Europe big two seeking a treble
THE little-known Mapei Stadium in the equally unknown Reggio Emilia, Italy, will host the biggest match in women’s club football this week when Lyon and Wolfsburg face-off in the UEFA Women’s Champions League final.
This season’s French champions and German runners-up square off in what will be a repeat of the 2013 final, when Wolfsburg ran out 1-0 winners at Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge home, thanks to a solitary penalty from the now retired Martina Muller.
Without question two of the strongest teams in the women’s game, one of them will become the first to win three Champions League titles since it was rebranded from the UEFA Women’s Cup in 2009-2010.
Both teams are stacked with genuine quality, internationals from back to front, which has been evident with their run to the final. Wolfsburg overcame last year’s winners Frankfurt 4-1 in their semi-final over two legs, while Lyon dispatched rivals PSG in the last four, 8-0 on aggregate.
The first leg was a scintillating 7-0 home win featuring some of the best football seen anywhere in the women’s game this season. One key battle in the contest is sure to be that between Wolfsburg’s Nilla Fischer (pictured inset), the experienced Swedish centre-back who has more than 100 caps for her country, and one of the brightest young strikers in world football at the moment, Norwegian, Ada Hegerberg, for Lyon.
Fischer, who was part of Wolsburg’s memorable 43 triumph over Swedes Tyreso in the 2014 final, is fully aware of the threat Lyon possess and knows she will have to be at the top of her game to stop them. “I think their biggest strength is in their attacking game, because in the French league the defence hasn’t been tested so hard,” she said.
“They have top forwards, like Ada Hegerberg, who is in an awesome flow at the moment, but their main strength is in the final third, and they are a very good technical side.”
For 20-year-old Hegerberg, who is the competition’s top scorer with 12 goals, this would be her first Champions League title and the first final in which she has competed.
Her form this season has been nothing short of remarkable, bagging 53 goals in all competitions, and claiming a second league and cup double in a row.
Diamonds
However, playing in the Champions League final is a real dream come true for Hegerberg.
“I’ve dreamt of playing in the final of this competition since I was a little kid, and to be honest I have been thinking about the game every day and picturing us winning,” she said.
“But Wolfsburg is a typically strong German team – physically strong, mentally strong and ready to play 90 minutes. But we need to concentrate on ourselves and can cause them a lot of problems.”
While Fischer and Hegerberg will be key, the Mapei Stadium will have match-winners aplenty when the two teams meet on Thursday.
Wolfsburg have their own diamonds in the attacking areas, with internationals Ramona Bachmann (Switzerland) and Germans Alex Popp and Isabel Kerschowski, while Lyon have arguably the best midfield three in the world in French internationals Amandine Henry, Louisa Necib and Camille Abily.
So what would it mean for Fischer and Hegerberg to win this Thursday’s final?
“It’s hard to put into words, but it’s the biggest title you can win as a club team, and when you’ve reached that feeling (like in 2014), you want it even more,” said Fischer.
Hegerberg concluded: “It would be the biggest of all my achievements, for sure.”